When Tabloids Go to Extremes to Get the Story

In what appears to be a case of the tabloids going too far in pursuit of a story, two Ohio police chiefs are under investigation for plotting to break into the home of Sarah Jessica Parker's surrogate to gather information for a tabloid.

Martins Ferry police chief Barry Carpenter and Bridgeport police chief Chad DoJack are being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, according to press reports. The bureau would not confirm or deny the investigation.
But Phil Wallace, the mayor of Martins Ferry, told ABCNews.com, "There is an investigation and allegations that he's done something." He said the chief remains at work during the probe.

Carpenter, the Martins Ferry chief, told a local television station, "I'm 100 percent innocent in this and my department is as well."

Bridgeport police were unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile the expectant parents, Parker and husband Matthew Broderick, released their own statement about the incident.

"Matthew and Sarah Jessica have complete faith in the legal system. But because it's a criminal investigation -- we will not be making any more comment," said the statement sent to ABCNews.com. "What I can say is the entire family looks forward to the healthy delivery of their daughters later on this summer."

Recently Parker expressed concern about the health and safety of her surrogate, who has been hounded by tabloid reporters and paparazzi since the celebrity couple announced she was carrying their twins.

"The most unsavory things have been done," she told "Access Hollywood." "She's had her phone hacked, her personal computer information hacked, she's had threats against her and true harassment. ... She's had friends threatened and family threatened and she's had family of friends threatened.

"It keeps me up every night," added Parker, who lives in New York City. "It's really incredibly upsetting to think of her so far away and me not being able to do something, beyond what I'm legally allowed to do."

Parker may be staying within legal limits, but the tabloids, it seems, have been going to extremes to get the scoop on their competition.

"My mother Teri Shields has been diagnosed with dementia. For her safety, she has temporarily been in a senior living facility, a very difficult decision for me," Shields told People magazine Friday. "Late Thursday afternoon, I was alerted by Old Tappan Police that my mother had been signed out of the facility by two reporters of the National Enquirer … who falsely claimed they were friends of hers."

Shields may be celebrating her victory over the tabloids, but as long as celebrity news sells, you can be sure the tabloids will doggedly pursue stories about them. ABCNews.com looked at some other cases of tabloids crossing the line: